National Early Inflammatory Autoimmune Diseases Audit

Closing date for applications: 2 November 2026 12:00 pm

HQIP is seeking to commission the delivery of the National Early Inflammatory Autoimmune Diseases Audit

The contract is expected to initially be delivered for NHS-funded care in England and Wales, and publicly funded care in Jersey for a period of three years, at a maximum total budget of up to £933,979.20 GBP including VAT and £778,316.00 GBP excluding VAT. Bids exceeding this limit will be rejected. There is potential to extend the contract for up to two additional years as well as the option to include other Devolved Nations and/or Crown Dependencies, aspirational measures and discretionary inflationary uplifts (all of which will be defined in the service specification).

requirements include (but please also refer to the potential future aspirational intent section):

  1. Audit Purpose

The overall ambition of the audit is to continue to capture and report data on the performance of individual healthcare providers against the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard QS33: Rheumatoid Arthritis in Adults, Quality standard QS214: Rare diseases, and other relevant national standards and guidance.

2. Paediatric Inflammatory Arthritis Pathway

      The supplier should work with the wider Dataset and Methodology Stakeholder Group to develop, maintain and report against a minimum viable paediatric inflammatory arthritis pathway.

      The initial focus should be on establishing a clinically meaningful dataset and reporting framework sufficient to describe the patient pathway and support audit activity.

      Initial measures should focus on a limited number of priority areas agreed with funders and stakeholders, for example referral, diagnosis and treatment timelines.

      The updated GIRFT Paediatric Inflammatory Arthritis Pathway guidance, anticipated for publication in January 2027, should be considered a key reference for the future development of the dataset, measures and reporting framework. The supplier should work with the wider Dataset and Methodology Stakeholder Group to review and align the dataset, metrics and reporting outputs with the recommendations and standards set out within the GIRFT guidance, ensuring ongoing relevance and consistency with national best practice.

      Any expansion beyond the core pathway, including additional metrics, PROMs/PREMs, transition measures and broader pathway development, should be considered future aspirational intent subject to feasibility, resources and further funding.

      3. Data Collection and Audit Design

      The supplier should continue to deliver a continuous prospective clinical audit and work with the Dataset and Methodology Group to ensure the audit dataset remains clinically relevant and proportionate.

      The supplier is expected to collaborate with specialist disease-specific clinical groups to support interpretation of findings and improve case ascertainment and recruitment rates.

      4. Organisational Survey and Quality Improvement

      The supplier should review and maintain the organisational survey to ensure it remains proportionate and aligned with audit objectives. Priority should be given to maximising analysis and utilisation of existing data rather than increasing data collection burden in collaboration with the wider Dataset and Methodology Stakeholder Group.

      The organisational survey should support the audit’s quality improvement objectives by enabling a deeper understanding of service delivery, workforce capacity, variation in practice and barriers to high-quality care.

      5. Benchmarking and Improvement

      The audit is expected to support continuous improvement across all services.

      While identifying high-performing and outlier services remains important, the audit should also support improvement among services performing at or around the national average, where the greatest overall gains may be achieved.

      Benchmarking should encourage year-on-year improvement within individual services and provide meaningful insights that motivate all providers to improve, regardless of their current position relative to national performance.

      6. Targeted improvement support

      The supplier should provide targeted quality improvement support following each annual audit cycle. Activities should build on existing professional networks, collaboratives and stakeholder infrastructure wherever possible rather than creating wholly new arrangements.

      Improvement support should be designed to benefit healthcare providers across the performance spectrum, including those performing at a middle level where the greatest overall gains may be achieved, while also supporting services experiencing significant challenges or demonstrating exceptional practice.

      Learning generated through quality improvement activities should be shared with all participating healthcare providers to maximise the impact of the audit programme.

      The anticipated outputs are:

      • 1.Near real-time dynamic and interactive metric results.
      • 2.Publication of an annual state of the nation report with the inclusion of an organisational survey.
      • 3.Incorporation of validated Patient Reported Outcome Measures.
      • 4.Quality improvement resources.
      • 5.The identification and notification of outliers.

      For further information on the current audit, currently delivered by the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) please head to: https://www.rheumatology.org.uk/improving-care/audits/neiaa

      Find out more

      To view the full notice and access the ITT documents, please follow the access link defined in the Find a Tender notice: https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/092791-2026

      Submission link: https://www.delta-esourcing.com/respond/G355Y3Y9WC

      Tender submission deadline

      2 November 2026, 12:00pm

      Please note:

      • Any communication from HQIP regarding this tender will be via the Delta messaging board.
      • Bidders must use the Delta messaging board to raise any clarification questions to HQIP regarding this procurement.
      • Bidders should note that HQIP does not accept requests to amend the published Terms and Conditions of Contract after bid submission or prior to contract signature.
      • Bidders must sign the Form of Tender to indicate acceptance of these Terms and Conditions of Contract. Failure to sign the Form of Tender will make your bid submission non compliant and subject to disqualification.
      • In rare cases where a bidder wishes to raise a potential legal implication to agreeing to the terms and conditions, this must be raised during the published bidder clarification time window via the messaging module within the e-tendering portal so that it can be addressed via the standard process for all bidder clarifications.
      Register via Delta